The next night, Iris returned home to the mansion after another busy workday promoting her upcoming single "Monster of Insanity" with Pandemonium. There were only three more days left until its release.
To her surprise, Lin Yehan was there to welcome her home with Jin Liwei. There was also a stern-looking woman he introduced as his lawyer.
Iris figured that they came for Jin Liwei to talk about some business. After eating dinner, however, she realized that Lin Yehan and his lawyer actually came for her.
They handed her an endorsement deal offer for a tea company. It turned out that Lin Yehan acquired an enormous tea plantation about a couple months ago. It was a plantation which originally produced tea for several companies in the country. However, after acquiring the plantation for himself, Lin Yehan stopped selling the tea to these companies and created his own tea company instead. He wanted his plantation to produce tea solely for his own company.
Since it was a completely new and unknown company, it would benefit them greatly to use a celebrity to endorse their products. Hence, the idea to use Iris as an endorser.
Of course, it was Jin Liwei's idea. What better way to help his brother promote his new company than recommend his future wife as the endorser? It was killing two birds with one stone. This way, he could also make sure that Iris would be getting a fair and trustworthy deal. One that would never f*ck her over if the company ever got into trouble.
"We will send a copy of the official endorsement offer to Bright Summit, but we want you to see it first," Lin Yehan's lawyer told Iris. "Let's review the contract together. Feel free to ask if there's anything you don't understand. I'm here to explain every single detail to you. If you want to change anything, we'll negotiate."
The money in this endorsement deal was lower than the offer she received from the other tea company, but not by much. It was understandable as this was still a completely new company which only launched on a small scale a few weeks ago. In fact, Lin Yehan was the one taking a gamble by paying her this much to endorse.
"Yes, I accept this offer," Iris decisively announced after only a few minutes of discussion.
Jin Liwei smiled, but Lin Yehan and his lawyer were both surprised by her quick decision.
She tilted her head to the side. "Eldest Brother, Liwei is here. He would never let me be at a disadvantage," she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
Jin Liwei's smile widened before nodding his head.
"Besides, I prefer to endorse your company rather than others," she added.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, Xiulan. Are you sure? Once you say yes, I won't allow you to back out anymore," Lin Yehan told her.
"Yes."
"Alright then. We have a deal." Lin Yehan stood up and extended his hand towards her.
Iris accepted his offered hand and they shook hands to symbolize the sealing of their deal. Jin Liwei and Lin Yehan's lawyer also joined in the handshaking.
With the matter about the endorsement deal done, Lin Yehan and his lawyer prepared to leave. It was already late in the evening and everyone still had work early the next morning.
As Iris and Jin Liwei stood in the grand foyer to see them off, Lin Yehan observed the couple. His eyes fell on the sparkling diamond ring on her finger. When he first heard that the two were engaged, he thought that their relationship was progressing too fast.
He could also see that she was a hard worker and dedicated to her craft as an artist. A person like that wasn't just some wishy-washy spoiled brat who would drag his Third Brother into trouble with her. At least, Lin Yehan hoped not.
In addition to this, he also thought that she was too young for his Third Brother. However, seeing them together now, he could tell that the two were genuinely in love with each other. He also had never seen his Third Brother so happy and relaxed before.
'I hope their love lasts, and that she's really true to Third Brother and she continues to make him happy,' he wished.
After saying goodbye to the couple, he left with his lawyer.
'Third Brother looks really happy. I won't have to worry about him too much anymore. As for our other brothers…"
He sighed.
"Fifth Brother, what is really happening with you?"
"Sir? Did you say something?" his lawyer asked beside him inside his car.
"Oh, nothing," he replied.
'Maybe I'm just overthinking. This new company is stressing me out. Maybe it's time for me to take some time off to relax.'
###
Friday.
The most awaited day of the week in the country's music industry finally arrived.
Jin Chonglin's album "Hey, It's Me" and the single "Monster of Insanity" by Iris Long and Pandemonium were both released at exactly the same time. They were the most anticipated music since the new calendar year started.
As soon as they were released, their fans—Jin Chonglin's army of fans and the combined forces of the Black Stars and the Pandemonium fans—commenced their step-by-step plans to help boost their prince, boss and hubbies' music. With the fans' power, "Hey, It's Me" and "Monster of Insanity" trended online as soon as they were released.
"Hey, It's Me" ranked number 1 in the trending lists in various websites while "Monster of Insanity" ranked number 2. It could be seen just how massive Jin Chonglin's army of fans were. He even trended in other Asian countries courtesy of his fans abroad.
Compared to him, Iris Long and Pandemonium's popularity and influence were mostly contained within the country. It wasn't such a big surprise that Jin Chonglin held the advantage when it came to online social media influence.
As a result, "Hey, It's Me" by Jin Chonglin debuted at number 1 in the music charts while "Monster of Insanity" by Iris Long and Pandemonium debuted at number 2.
The Black Stars and Pandemonium felt disappointed but only for a short moment before they quickly recovered and continued to support their boss and hubbies' music. The fight had just began. They truly believed that "Monster of Insanity" deserved number 1 more than "Hey, It's Me."
"Hey, It's Me" continued to rule the music charts and the radio airwaves for the next few days. The general public seemed to react more favourably to it. Its type of music was more familiar. "Monster of Insanity", on the other hand, sounded too bizarre to most of them.
While "Hey, It's Me" continued to reign supreme in the music charts, the musicians, the experts and critics in the music industry were all busy studying, deconstructing and analyzing everything about "Monster of Insanity". It was a treasure trove of advanced musical techniques that were rarely used by musicians in the country. Some of the experts even concluded that Iris Long created some new techniques that was uniquely hers. Overall, they all could agree that it was definitely one of the most original songs that they had ever heard in their careers.
Finally, the reviews started pouring in.
"Hey, It's Me" received mostly great reviews. Critics praised Jin Chonglin for focusing more on emotions and connecting to the listeners instead of relying on his sexual appeal like usual. Of course, there were a few critics who blasted him for producing such a simplistic and effortless music. For the most part, Jin Chonglin's new album was well-received among the critics.
As for "Monster of Insanity", the reviews were completely mixed. There was a clear division between the critics.
One side absolutely hated it, calling it a sacrilege to both rock and classical music. A critic wrote:
"What kind of music is this? It's just painful noise wrongly labelled as music. Does Iris Long think that music is a hotpot that she can just throw whatever ingredients she wants to and it'll taste good? 'Monster of Insanity' is absolutely revolting, horrendous and a torture to the ears. This single just demonstrates how the songwriter is trying too hard to prove herself but failing to do so. The advanced techniques are too much and over-complicated. They don't make any sense! Don't waste your time listening to this garbage. You'll thank me for saving your eardrums from bleeding."
These were mostly the purists who didn't respond well to unconventional music.